January is National Mentoring Month, and the ACE Board of Directors salutes and thanks the 2,500 dedicated industry professional who annually devote more than 90,000 hours inspiring young people to follow in their footsteps into architecture, construction, and engineering. Mentors are the heart and soul of the ACE program.

Affiliates can use this occasion as a possible hook to get some publicity from local media. Later this month the Chicago Sun Times will feature an ACE Chicago student-mentor team in a story about the impact of mentoring.

New National Sponsors

ACE welcomes two new sponsors. Exxon Mobil has become a Keystone Level sponsor and in addition committed $25,000 to ACE Houston. The international insurance brokering and risk management company Marsh, a subsidiary of Marsh and McLennan Company, signed on as a Keystone Level sponsor. Mark Reagan, Marsh’s Global Construction and Practice Leader, has been nominated to serve on the ACE Board.

Accolades

Mass Mentoring Partnership named Gilbane Building Company to its 2016 Corporate Honor Roll in recognition of the company’s longstanding involvement in ACE of Greater Boston.

Jon Magnusson, Senior Principal with Magnusson Klemencic Associates and Past President of ACE Washington State, received the inaugural Engineering News-Record Northwest Legacy Award. Recognized for his many contributions to the industry as well as ACE, Jon was a founding member of the Seattle affiliate in 2001.

Engineering News-Record Southeast has named two ACE mentors to its 2016 Top 20 under 40 class. They are Brooke Robbins, senior associate and project architect with KBJ Architects and chair of ACE Northeast Florida; and Jeremy Voss, senior project manager with PCL Construction Services and mentor with ACE Central Florida. The award recognizes career accomplishments and community service.

2016 Outstanding Mentor Award Competition

The sixth annual Engineering News-Record—ACE Outstanding Mentor Award competition recognizing up to five extraordinary ACE mentors is now open. This year to even the playing field among nominees from established and emerging affiliates, a special judging category has been created for mentors from affiliates established in 2010 or later. Detailed guidelines explain the competition criteria and nomination process.

Thanks to the generous sponsorship of BNP Media, ENR’s new publisher, each affiliate whose mentor is named a 2016 Outstanding Mentor will receive a donation for a scholarship. Nominations are due March 16.

ACE Showcased in New Workforce Development Publication

ACE is one of 15 workforce development programs highlighted in the Work-and-Learn in Action Guidebook, recently published by the National Network of Business and Industry Associations with support from the Business Roundtable. The publication is intended to help employers understand and adopt work-and-learn programs, including modernized internships, apprenticeships, and mentorships. Gilbane Building Company’s involvement in ACE is described at some length.

2016 CIRT/ACE National Design Competition

Two months remain to enter the 10th annual CIRT-ACE National Design Competition. For the first time this year, nine teams – three semi-finalists in each of the three competition challenges – will be invited to participate in the final showdown in Washington, DC, on April 25. Entries must be postmarked March 8. For more details, read here.

New Board Members

Five new industry leaders recently were elected to ACE’s National Board:

ACE Houston’s Third Annual Build It Forward event in November set new records for participants and donations. Led by the “Leadership AGC Class of 2016,” 20 teams of students, mentors, and program alumni – 100 strong – built 21 benches, which the affiliate donated to other Houston non-profits. A total of $100,500 was raised for the Houston program and scholarship fund.

Holiday videos created by the Terracon Foundation (sponsor of the 2014 ACE National All-Affiliates Conference) and Urban Engineers (UE), headquartered in Philadelphia, prominently featured ACE.